Cha-ching —

Apple boosts retail store performance despite Browett’s missteps

Apple Stores brought in $6,050 per square foot this year.

Apple's retail efforts continue to hit pay dirt, according to the latest analysis from RetailSails. Apple still tops the firm's annual ranking of retail sales productivity, raking in a mind-boggling $6,050 per square foot of retail space—slightly more than twice what its next nearest competitor, Tiffany's, pulls in. That's good news for a division at Apple that had its reputation somewhat tarnished by the hiring of former Dixons Retail CEO John Browett earlier this year.

The $6,050 figure isn't shabby considering upscale luxury brands like Lululemon, Coach, and Michael Kors "only" manage less than $2,000 per square foot, and the average mall store pulls in less than $400 per square foot. And though Apple's retail success is nothing new, it still managed to grow this measure of productivity 7.5 percent over last year's market-leading $5,626 per square foot average.

The growth is important in a year when Apple turned its retail operations over to John Browett, who previously headed UK chains like Dixons, PCWorld, and Currys while their reputation among UK consumers plummeted. Apple CEO Tim Cook's choice to replace former retail boss Ron Johnson—who is credited with creating Apple's retail strategy in the first place—left many UK consumers scratching their heads.

"If you want a dingy shop full of distracting always-on demonstration units, staffed by surly ignoramuses who only want to sell you an extended warranty, then Dixons was the place to go," Phillip Storry, a systems administrator from London, told Ars earlier this year. "Which probably explains why Dixons has been having real troubles of late—consumers are now wise to them and shop elsewhere."

(A UK reader later told me that the PCWorld chain had improved significantly since Browett left.)

Browett led an initiative to overhaul how Apple Stores were staffed, cutting hours in an effort to improve the retail division's operating margins. Amid complaints from Apple Store staff that customer service, store cleanliness, and overall Apple "experience" was suffering, Apple admitted the changes were a mistake and reversed them. Two months later, Cook gave Browett a pink slip, taking over retail operations until a suitable replacement can be found.